I didn't realised this answer was available... I just found my notification email in the Junk box!
Anyways, I got another Tousling cable, more blank MDs (some sealed and some not) and even a another MD deck (now I have two JE520, both from EU market).
I no longer get errors flashing on screen (with the second MD deck), but lots of skips throughout my recordings and do not notice them, until I playback the newly recorded songs. Initially I though it was due to my old, never used (4x) blank MDs, although blank, maybe they became corrupted somehow?
Then, when I tested new purchased blank MDs, they too record songs with several skips through any given song. This is very frustrating as I cannot pin point the issue!
As my last resort, I record one song at the time, playback each song, and then record another song etc. The skips only happen on new recordings. All my 20yo recorded discs play perfectly on either deck!
So briefly, I now have two MD decks that can only play well and not record. I am starting to suspect the blank MDs have become corrupted somehow, not just my own, but other MDs I purchased (unsealed) as well.
I have owned the first MD deck (and most of my 200+ MD discs) for 20+ years. Never had an issue with setup, or cables, or Opt./Analog. options.
None of my MDs are original factory recordings. They were all purchased blank and I, recorded them all throughout my ownership.
I have RCA cables from both Phono/AMP and an Apple Mac and a Toslink from CD deck only. These skips can happen from either source. But the music played (while recording) from either source is flawless. So I came to the conclusion, it's not the cables, it's not the source, nor the decks, perhaps the discs? And even then, sometimes it records fine and sometimes not (even if it's the same song from same source) – it's like playing the lottery, really
